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Thursday, February 17, 2011

This is a ranking of every NBA Champ by regular season pythagorean wins (normalized for an 82 game season) if you click that above link you can work your way to the methodology. Included with each team is a list of its players who had Win Shares of 10 or over (Win Shares is an aggregate performance metric). I combined regular season and playoff performance for that number. I'm now adding strength of schedule as well, the combination of those two numbers is reflected in the simple rating system from pro-basketball-reference.

Russell 14.8, (d. Lakers 37 – okay, this will almost certainly be the worst team ever to make an NBA Final – and since I’ve already done the SB, I know it’s worse than any team ever to win the SB. I’ve done WS winners already, one team, out of 106 WS champs, was under .500 – the ’87 Twins – I haven’t done losers yet, but right now, this Lakers team is the worst team ever in a title game. Note, I didn’t do NFL Champs before SB era.)

35. 2012 Heat 5.72
James 20.3 (d. OKC 6.44)

36. 2003 Spurs 5.65
Duncan 22.4, (d. Nets 56)

37. 1953 Lakers 5.53

Mikan 16.6, Mikkelsen 13.2, (d. Knicks 58)

38. 1980 Lakers 5.39

Abdul-Jabbar 18.1, Johnson 13.3, Wilkes 11.7, (d. Sixers 52)

39. 1969 Celtics 5.35

Howell 12.9, Russell 12.3, Havlicek 10.1 (d. Lakers 52)

40. 1977 Blazers 5.39

Walton 12.7, Lucas 11.3, (d. Sixers 51)

41. 1952 Lakers 5.28

MIkan 16.8, Mikkelsen 15.1, (d. Knicks 43).

42. 2004 Pistons 5.04

Billups 15, Wallace 13.8, Hamilton 11.6, Prince 10.3,

43. 1961 Celtics 4.93

Russell 14.9, (d. Hawks 49)

44. 1988 Lakers 4.81

Johnson 14.9, Scott 13, Worthy 10.7, (d. Pistons 54)

45. 1957 Celtics 4.79

Sharman 11.7, (d. Hawks 41)

46. 2010 Lakers 4.78

Gasol 15.3, Bryant 13, (d. Celtics 52)

47. 2011 Mavericks 4.41
Nowitzki 14.8

48. 1982 Lakers 4.37
Johnson 15.6, Abdul-Jabbar 12.6, (d. Sixers 56)

49. 1966 Celtics 4.34

Russell 14.9, SJones 12.2, (d. Lakers 47)

50. 1994 Rockets 4.19

Olajuwon 18.6, Thorpe 12.2, (d. Knicks 60 – and the one year the Knicks have a great team in the NBA Finals, it’s the biggest upset we’ve seen so far, really, given how close the others were, it’s the only real upset in 46 years looked at thusfar)

51. 1968 Celtics 3.87

Howell 12.3, (d. Lakers 54)

52. 1956 Warriors 3.82

Johnston 15.5, Arizin 14.4, (d. Pistons 43)

53. 2001 Lakers 3.74

O’Neal 18.6, Bryant 15.1, (d. Sixers 54)

54. 2006 Heat 3.59

Wade 19.6 (d. Mavs 58 – now we see some upsets)

55. 1974 Celtics 3.42

Havlicek 13.2, Cowens 11.4, (d. Bucks 61 – the biggest upset yet)

56. 1975 GSW 2.86

Warriors! Sure, I was 4 and therefore have not a single memory of it. But it’s GSW! GSW! GSW!! Barry 15.8, (d. Bullets 60 – and a significant upset to boot)